Syria troops pack up, move

Syrian military trucks laden with furniture and ammunition began pulling out of long-held positions in the mountains of central Lebanon on Monday, the first step in a withdrawal demanded by weeks of growing anti-Syria protests in Beirut.

The pullback began as tens of thousands of Lebanese demonstrators staged their largest single rally since protests erupted three weeks ago. The redeployment followed a meeting between the presidents of Lebanon and Syria, who agreed that all Syrian soldiers would pull back to eastern Lebanon's Bekaa Valley by month's end.

But Syrian President Bashar Assad and Lebanese President Emile Lahoud, meeting in Syria's capital, Damascus, provided no timetable for a full withdrawal and did not specify what will happen to the Syrian intelligence network operating in Lebanon. Those unanswered questions make it unlikely that the initial pullback will defuse demands both inside and outside Lebanon for Syrian forces to leave entirely, setting the stage for continued demonstrations.

"Today we have one target: to liberate our land," read one banner held aloft by marchers in a Beirut crowd estimated to be as large as 70,000.

Yet the call for a Syrian pullout is hardly unanimous in Lebanon, and a backlash against that movement is gathering force. In the most public sign yet of deepening divisions, the powerful Syrian-backed group Hezbollah plans to stage a huge rally Tuesday to express "gratitude" to Syria and its rejection of "foreign interference."

The prospect of concurrent demonstrations has set Beirut on edge as concerns grow that political rhetoric from either side could ignite Lebanon's sectarian tensions.

The political drama has grown steadily since Feb. 14, when the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri triggered public protests against the Syrian government and its Lebanese allies, whom many Lebanese blamed for the attack.

Though they deny any involvement, Lebanon's Syrian-backed prime minister, Omar Karami, and his Cabinet resigned a week ago in the face of growing protests. Many thought that would signal an end to the protests, but since then, passions have grown on both sides.

Hezbollah weighs in

The anti-Syria movement has been driven largely by Lebanese Christians, along with Sunni and Druze activists. The powerful Shiite party Hezbollah had all but stayed on the sidelines until Sunday, when its leader, Sheik Hassan Nasrallah called his people to demonstrate on Tuesday and accused anti-Syria demonstrators of working at the behest of Israel and the United States.

Hezbollah, a militant faction with close ties to Iran, has reason to want to counter the demonstrations: A United Nations resolution in September, backed by the United States and France, that called on Syria to withdraw all forces from Lebanon also called for Hezbollah's militia to be disarmed.

Samir Kassir, political columnist for An Nahar newspaper, said jabs at the anti-Syria movement appeared to have galvanized its supporters.

"What Nasrallah said about sellouts bothered some people, and I think that brought them out today into the streets," he said. "They see it as a challenge, I think, and that explains the huge mobilization."

The announcement from the two presidents said Syria's 14,000 troops in Lebanon will pull back from northern and central Lebanon to positions in the Bekaa Valley, closer to Syria's border. After that, military officials from both countries will meet to discuss how to "complete the withdrawal of the remaining forces."

Syrian troops have been in Lebanon since 1976, when the Christian-led government turned to its neighbor for help in the gathering Lebanese civil war. The Syrian forces never left, despite the 1989 Taif accords that called for a phased withdrawal. Since the civil war ended in 1990, Syria and its allies in Lebanon have maintained that they are necessary to maintain peace and defend against an Israeli incursion.

Syrian intelligence agents are deeply embedded in Lebanon's bureaucratic and security circles. As recently as two months ago, the threat of drawing their scrutiny made average Lebanese hesitant to publicly criticize the Syrian presence. But that has changed abruptly, with demonstrators now defiantly demanding "Syria, out!"

A delicate balance

Assad, the 39-year-old Syrian leader who inherited the job when his father died in 2000, is juggling a difficult decision. If he pulls out too swiftly, he could expose himself to criticism, or worse, at home. But Assad now faces a mountain of international criticism, and even Syria's longtime allies, such as Saudi Arabia, see little way he can resist it indefinitely.

"A Syrian withdrawal from Lebanon is inevitable," the Saudi foreign affairs adviser, Adel al-Jubeir, said at a news conference Monday in Washington. Saudi Arabia received assurances Saturday from Syria's ambassador in the U.S. that the withdrawal would be complete "within the next two or three months," al-Jubeir said.

As outlined, that staged withdrawal plan still falls short of demands by the United States, France, Saudi Arabia and Russia for Syrian troops to leave Lebanon now. A White House spokesman reiterated U.S. criticisms of anything less than an immediate pullout as a "half measure."

"We stand with the Lebanese people, and the Lebanese people, I think, are speaking very clearly," spokesman Scott McClellan said. "They want a future that is sovereign, independent and free from outside influence and intimidation."

By nightfall, Syrian trucks reportedly were abandoning positions in central Lebanon, some of which they had held for decades. Roughly 15 trucks full of equipment, ammunition, weapons, mattresses and other belongings were seen driving up the winding highway through the mountains toward the Bekaa Valley, The Associated Press reported. Crews were mending two trucks along the side of the road.